If you’ve jumped into 2026 with both feet—word of the year chosen, resolutions set, new gym membership activated, and a sparkling lease on life in hand—good for you. Truly. I aspire to that.
And if that’s not you, take heart. Perhaps for you, like me, now is not the time.
Whether you cherish and adore the end of year festivities, or it’s more of a grin-and-bear-it situation, the holidays can be a lot—on every level. Many of us spend weeks, sometimes months, under enormous internal and external pressure. Add outsized expectations, busyness, loneliness, traffic, family dynamics, too much of too much and not enough of what actually nourishes us, and you’ve got an extended season of physical, mental, and emotional swirl.
I don’t know about you, but most years I arrive at the big page turn with a strong need to catch my breath. I’m over-humaned. The personal ghosts and goblins that surface during the holidays are unparalleled. I need a break from myself and my many to-do lists. If I had to pick my 2026 word of the year right now, it might be hide. And while that definitely captures the feeling tone of the moment, it’s not really the vibe I want to project into the next twelve months.
Even though I don’t want this to be true, I am very clear that now is not the time for big goals and aspirations. Why? Because I am tired. I am under-resourced. And when we’re running low on fuel, inspiration, creativity, and deep connection tend to be in short supply as well. So as much as I’d like to mark this moment as a beginning, energetically, I’m still in ending mode. My body is requesting rest and ease. There is a part of me that knows better than calendars and social media—and I want to listen to it.
Nature’s got my back on this. Winter is the time for hibernation, rest, replenishment, reflection, and renewal. It’s a season of stillness, where bold action can be temporarily suspended. It’s a time to slow down and conserve our energy in preparation for spring. It’s not the season for expansion and growth.
A wider worldview supports this, too. We happen to use the Gregorian calendar, which begins the new year on January 1. But many others—Chinese, Islamic, Hebrew, Ethiopian, and Persian calendars, to name a few—don’t. So while there is nothing wrong with beginning the year on January 1 and doing it with a big bang, there’s also absolutely nothing wrong with hitting snooze on the annual reset, if there’s a quiet voice within sending you a very different message.
If any of this resonates, I have some suggestions. Take a nap. Put on the kettle and carve out some time with absolutely nothing in it. Plan for some extra meditation or yoga nidra practice. Genius and inspiration most often arrive in empty space, and right now, maybe you need more of that. Trust that when it’s time for action, you’ll know—and that knowing is everything. What’s meant to be created, expressed, or aspired to will emerge in perfect time—entirely intact—ready when you are.
What could open up if you let your body and the wisdom within—not the calendar—decide when it’s time to begin?
All blessings,
xoj
